The future of the European Court of Human Rights

An ever increasing number of applications pending before the European Court of Human Rights is jeopardising the proper functioning of the control system of the European Convention on Human Rights. At present more than 100,000 cases are pending before the Court, of which more than 90% are deemed to be inadmissible. The consequence of the volume of cases is that the length of proceedings before the Court can be excessive. 

It is clear that the Convention's control system will collapse if the Court’s caseload continues to grow as it has done over the last ten years. (In ten years the number of pending cases has been multiplied by ten!) Ambitious measures to save the control system are, therefore, now urgently needed.

This is why a conference on the future of the Court will be organised in February 2010 in Interlaken, Switzerland, during the Swiss Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. The purpose of the conference is to reaffirm States' commitment to the protection of human rights in Europe and to draw up a roadmap for the future development of the Court.

With a view to the Interlaken Conference, the President of the Court, Jean-Paul Costa, has addressed a memorandum to the States Parties to the Convention, which describes more in detail the Court's current situation and the aims of the Conference. The Court's memorandum can be read here.

For more information about the reform process and the Interlaken Conference consult the Council of Europe's file "Reform of the European Court of Human Rights".